But he was saying that 99$+ was too much and didn't fit a handheld-like strategy. I disagreed, since not only does the WiiU controller come packed in, but the WiiU mainly only supports one padlet, and in case a replacement is needed, it wouldn't even cost so much (I was just saying for whatever reason he mentioned it).

EDIT: Corrected above (added the word mainly)

The WiiU will support two GamePads, Reggie said it in the E3 presentation to thunderous applause.

There aren't yet any games that support two Pads though, so maybe you meant that.

Sorry, I meant  "Mainly supports only one padlet". I knew about the two padlet support from a long time ago (even before e3), but even at e3 we know little about that support and all the SW shown this far only supports one.

And also, it appears most uses to come will only ask for one padlet and there are apparently performance issues still with two padlets, so the issue is moot. That's all I meant, but thanks for pointing that out, my mistake there. Just want you to know I was aware of that.

Agreed! So no harm done :).

just because they can break even at 75 bucks doesnt mean they will sell a standalone controller for that much. This is Ninty and they do sell things for a profit. I fully expect a controller to cost about 90-100, which is expensive for a controller I hope it does a good deal by itself for that price.  IMHO i think 75 bucks is stll to expensive thats 15 more than a current gen controller for another system.

A current gen controller does far less than the Upad.... I actually don't understand why the prices have gone up so much since 2000... I remember thinking it quite expensive that my 2nd GameCube controller was £15..... The only addition an X360 controller has is a battery and wireless tech, yet it's double the price, and a dualshock 3 has accellerometers added for a further £10. (making it £10 more than a Wii remote+ which has gyros and an IR camera, although admitedly no control sticks)

The Upad has everything the DS3 has, plus gyros, a touchscreen, NFC tech, 2 cameras, a sensor bar (admitedly it's just some IR LEDs though), an SD card slot, the ability to act as a TV controller (again probably not an expensive addition for Ninty, but it adds value) and likely a more expensive battery (though with the screen on probably won't last half the time )

$100 is not an unreasonable price compared to other controllers IMO... they definately shouldn't go over that. In terms of parts and manufacturing costs I bet the Upad is a lot more than twice the price of the DS3/X360pad to make, but it won't be much more than twice the RRP.

But still Oni it doesn't matter because it'll be in case of damage, there is little need for 2 upads this far, and when the need will come it will be a non-required upgrade.

Seriously, the stand-alone buying of upad is not a big deal, remember my words when it comes out.

How will we know that the 10M - 20M (in case it happens like the Wii) are for motions controls like you predict and no for the extra screen, or a mix of both?

Edit: Desperation for 3DSXL? DSLite was released around the same time after the original DS.

Please Note:  Individually even Zelda or 3D Mario only account for 8m each, DK 6m, others 1-3m.   Despite the large overlap of individual franchise fans, I'm being generous and counting Nintendo loyalists as 20m.

The Wii released at $249. I'll predict the WiiU will relese $299-$349 or Nintendo will be eating a sizable chunk of their normal profit margin that they make from hardware (just as they did with the 3DS) for a good long while.

The other issue is that the UPad does not add much to the non-gaming experience, which imo was the primary driver for the Wii success. The UPad adds a paltry bit to the gamer experience, almost entirely party based. It wasn't the droves of Nintendo fans that made the Wii a success, though it was only Nintendo fans that kept the Wii going for as long as it did. Nintendo will be hard pressed to grab these non-gamers any more than the other two, given what i've seen so far.

Instead they will be attempting to grab the attention of gamers, a decidedly different chunk of the previous gen market, one in which could be said would have put the Wii in third place. If you add a generous 50% growth of _gamer_ purchases to Nintendo you only reach a rather paltry 40-50m lifetime console sales, which is _not_ good.

By the time each gen is winding down each console, if all three of them are darn dead even, each should be selling roughly 70-80m each.